FanPost

The Steelers are the NFL's top villain.

This may come as a shock to some of you. It has actually been a long time coming. Here are five reasons the Steelers are Darth Vader in 2010.

1. The Steelers will top many a power rankings list this week. Discussion at Dawgs by Nature often refers to the Steelers as "the bully." Every team in the league looks at the Steelers matchup as a likely loss. Fear leads to hate.

2. The Steelers have had unparalleled success, and are making a run for a ridiculous 7th title. No other team has enjoyed such success. Fans of less prestigious teams feel that it should be their team's chance at a ring, instead of adding excessive hardware to one team.

3. Ben Roethlisberger is widely regarded as a rapist or sexual assaulter. Not a popular group of people. Our team's recent success and hopes for the near future rest on his arm. A team needs a franchise quarterback to pick apart postseason defenses, and Big Ben is instrumental to a 2010 Super Bowl win.

4. James Harrison's hits on Sunday struck a sore note with NFL fans. I bounced around the internet today and the non-Steelers consensus seems to be that he deserves suspension for intentional headhunting. Harrison is also the pride of this generation of the Steel Curtain, setting the tone with his violent and supremely effective play against run and pass.

5. Steelers Nation is huge, has pockets across the country, and we are the happiest fans in the country every Sunday morning because no team scares us. They wish they were happy. Their teams lose to crappy teams.

Steelers fans, we're going to accept that inasmuch as the NFL has a bad guy, the Steelers have supplanted the Patriots as the number one villain. I don't like it, because to me the Steelers are heroes. I wish I had advice for dealing with this feeling, whether it is better to embrace the dark side or ignore the haters. Instead I'll open it up to comments.

The opinions shared here are not those of the editorial staff of Behind the Steel Curtain or SB Nation. These posts are not approved in any way by the editorial staff of this web site.